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It's highly likely that you're more than familiar with the term 'carbon footprint'. Now a group of water conservation organisations in the US are calling for people to address their 'water footprint'. [ H2O Conserve]<1> was developed as a result of the increased pressure that's being placed on Earth’s freshwater sources – a knock-on effect of climate shifts and rise in population levels. It aims to provide a one-stop-shop for Americans to gain advice and information about how to implement water conservation into their everyday lives.
The first step, according to the site, is to recognise how much water you're using on a daily basis. Although it's common knowledge that taking a shorter shower in the morning or watering your lawn less at the weekend can assist with cutting back water use, less is known about how much water is spent on day to day activities and items. For example, it takes 24 gallons of water to produce a single pound of plastic, and more than 100 gallons to make a pound of cotton.
The website’s 'H2O calculator' takes statistics such as this into consideration, enabling it to reveal how much water you're using up by answering a few questions about your lifestyle. According to its calculations, the average American citizen guzzles 1,189.3 gallons of water every day.
"By allowing visitors to calculate their ‘water footprint’ – including the water they use at home, the water used to produce their food, energy and household products – we hope to encourage people to think about water in a whole new way," said Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, Wenonah Hauter. "This great educational tool incorporates actions people can take with broad informational resources on issues such as water pollution, our water infrastructure and bottled water."
Food & Water Watch worked alongside the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and environmental organisation GRACE to create the site.